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LIBRARY OF; CONGRESS, 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Truth -Gleams. 



BY 



J. (m LOWRY, D.D. 





PHILADELPHIA: 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 
1891. 



*>«'** 



V 



tfl 



Copyright, i89i,by J. O'B. LOWRY. 






i 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 



027344 



THIS 

WORK IS DEDICATED 

TO 

THE WRITER'S FAMILY, 

AND TO 

THE CHURCHES 

r 
WHICH HE HAS SERVED AS PASTOR. 



PREFACE. 



The suggestions of friends have exerted 
an important influence in connection with 
the decision to publish this book. The 
undertaking itself has been facilitated by 
the kindness of several publishers of lead- 
ing periodicals to whose columns the au- 
thor contributed a number of articles. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction 9 

Controlling Influences in Life 13 

Self-Training 23 

The Life that Now is ^ 

The Influence of Life upon Life 41 

Moral Architecture : The General Prin- 
ciple 51 

Moral Architecture : The Particular Ele- 
ments 61 

The Work of Life : Sowing ......... 73 

The Living Way 83 

The Final Manifestation 93 

Solidarity : A Social Study 103 

Noblesse Oblige : A Social Study in 

The Inter-Biblical Period 121 



INTRODUCTION. 



The mystery of the ages is life, not 
death. The last is only a phase of the 
first. The mariner, looking out for the 
first time over the great, restless ocean, 
sees its billows rolling angrily and its 
waves breaking over the rocks, and says, 
I will harness the grim monster and ride 
to the unexhausted country which lies 
beyond the sea. That is the believer's 
attitude, all the more rational because he 
has tidings in advance. The man of the 
world views death as a part of his liabili- 
ties ; the Christian views it as a part of his 
assets. Having Christ, he has " all things, 
life and death." 

The philosophy of life has long fasci- 
nated the writer, especially as that philoso- 

9 



10 



Introduction. 



phy is interpreted by Christ's inimitable 
monograph on biology: The Vine and 
the " Cuttings." To stop short of the prin- 
ciples there laid down would be unscien- 
tific, to go beyond them would be unwise. 

It has been said that the terms which 
Christian truth will employ in the future 
will be biological. Is it not quite the same 
thing to say that they will be biblical ? 
They may not be technical, just as the 
Gospel's philosophy of life is not meta- 
physical ; but they will be biological in the 
biblical sense. 

Calvin and Arminius seem to have 
looked at opposite sides of life's mountain. 
Why not make all due acknowledgment, 
and claim the right to botanize and biolo- 
gize for ourselves on both sides ? This 
means not less systematic theology, but 
more of biblical exegesis. We shall then 
be enlightened by the royal lilies empur- 
pling the fields, the sparrows making their 
nest in the trees ; the prodigal stopped in 
his thrilling self-accusation by the father's 



Introduction, n 

embrace, and the vine sending life into 
responsive cuttings, which are " pruned" 
for greater fruit-bearing; and refusing life 
to the unresponsive, which are " pruned 
away" utterly, because valueless. 

With Life beckoning with queenly hand, 
there is little time for polemical judg- 
ments ; for heresy-holding or heresy-hunt- 
ing. Children roaming over the hills may 
not be in the beaten highway; and yet 
they may be in sight of the father's house ; 
and, what is better, they may be instinct 
with the life which the father sends pul- 
sating through their veins. 

It will be abundant recompense to have 
it said that the voice of the writer is a 
child's voice. 

J. O'B. L. 



CONTROLLING INFLUENCES IN LIFE. 



'3 



i 



CONTROLLING INFLUENCES IN LIFE. 

What a child derives from its parents at 
its birth is of more consequence than what 
it receives at its majority. Second in im- 
portance only to being born again is being 
" born right the first time." 

The genial Autocrat of the breakfast table 
maintains that the time to begin the educa- 
tion of a child is a hundred years before its 
birth. It may be easy to make too much 
of heredity; but it is also easy to make too 
little of it. What our grandparents were 
is of grave moment to us all. It may 
matter little whether or not they were ever 
in prison; but it matters greatly whether 
or not they ever deserved to be there. 

The genius of the day finds that every- 
thing is created with its tendency inborn. 
The very worm has its wings folded about 
it before it becomes the butterfly. The 

15 



16 Controlling Influences in Life, 

child of a year has in it much that will 
determine what it will be at twenty. The 
generation, therefore, which rectifies itself, 
or becomes rectified, gives to coming gen- 
erations a better prospect of true living. 

Does some one say, If heredity be so 
real, why need I go against the current ? 
The answer is very practical. The man 
with an inborn tendency to drink is ex- 
pected to do all in his power to overcome 
it. For him that is of the essence of civil- 
ization. Sin is a tendency, like the drink 
tendency. It is more, undoubtedly; but it 
is that. It is to be displaced. How ? By 
letting Christ in. 

Kentucky's most brilliant orator, Clay 
excepted, when delivering a temperance 
address, is reported to have said : " Let us 
have the pledge. Let us have no religion 
about this. Keep religion out. Secularize 
the movement.' , Alas, keeping religion 
out let the tempest in, as the brilliant 
speaker found out to his own cost, — and 
ruin. So with all sin. It must suffer dis- 



Controlling Influences in Life. iy 

placement by the entrance of life from 
Christ crucified. The individual and the 
race need new life. They are degenerate. 
The Christ life is the basis of their life. The 
parable of the vine fairly throbs with 
vitality. The engrafted life fascinates the 
husbandman who buds it on. It would be 
interesting to watch the southern Cali- 
fornian grafting the lemon on the orange- 
tree, even if the lemon does retain its 
acidity. How much more interesting to 
note the change which the believer under- 
goes, when grafted on the " true vine." A 
sweetness is passed into the very juices of 
his life. 

What the soul is ranks first ; but closely 
akin in importance is what the soul has. 
From tangential Schopenhauer up all agree 
in this. The study of environment has 
become one of the great studies of the 
day : How to adjust ourselves to our 
surroundings ? Some define ideal living as 
consisting in the perfect harmony between 
the soul and its environment. Others 

2* 



18 Controlling Influences in Life. 

qualify this. All admit its force, in one 
form or another. A fact to be emphasized 
is this : There are inner qualities, suscep- 
tible of development, which are capable of 
exercising a royal influence over our en- 
vironment ; among them stands : 

Conscience. It should not be simply 
taken for granted that we are to live con- 
scientiously. What is merely taken for 
granted is too much like water, too little 
like steam, — force in posse, not force in esse. 
No life will amount to much where there is 
little or no moral conviction. Even Bis- 
marck felt that if there is no hereafter, all 
is vanity, even imperial policies. The sum 
of Carlyle's gospel was, " Man do thy duty 
silently and prate not of happiness." Good 
advice, notwithstanding the legion of vol- 
umes in which the sage broke his own 
silence. 

The place of conscience in life is easily 
recognized. The difficulty is in crystal- 
lizing it into conduct. Webster asserted 
that the matter of supreme importance to 



Controlling Influences in Life. 19 

himself was his relation to his God. But in 
his career he practically nullified the force 
of this conviction. 

Conscience is sometimes called " Com- 
mon sense, and nothing more;" and against 
the moral view is cited the case of the 
brigand who coolly slays his captive, and 
refuses to eat meat on Friday. But the 
definition, like the scant garment, does not 
touch the feet. Sanctified common sense 
comes nearer being conscience. But fortu- 
nately some who do not possess a large 
fund of any kind of sense do possess 
conscience, at least to the point of abhor- 
ring that which is evil and cleaving to that 
which is good. Distinguishing between 
the two may be difficult with these last. 
Hence the fund of common sense may 
enter as one of the tests of ethical health. 

The roots of conscience lie in 

Unselfishness, — the only element in which 
the right remains uninfected and correct 
motives have free play. 

The heart of the best theory may be cut 



20 Controlling Influences in Life. 

out of it by such a maxim as, Business is 
business. Is it true ? Helpfulness comes 
nearer being the business of life, — to help 
mankind and, reverently, if need be, the 
Lord against the mighty. To help men 
and women out of the waters, in which they 
are struggling ; out of the mire, in which 
they are sinking, to the Rock and to the 
Heights, — that is of the essence of true 
living. But we make a side issue of this 
work to which we are called by the voice 
of God, the constitution of our nature, the 
cry of humanity, and the storms of revolu- 
tion. 

Courage is of vast moment. Who is 
satisfied with himself? We are told that 
character must regenerate the world. A 
glance at others and a glance at self lead 
one to doubt this. 

As fast as one problem of sin is solved 
another lifts its head. The Spirit alone can 
regenerate the race. A Moses may legis- 
late, an Elijah may interpret; an Isaiah 
may lighten, a Paul or Luther may 






Controlling Influences in Life. 21 

thunder ; a Nightingale may work her 
fingers to the bone, but Christ crucified 
alone can save men. On this line the 
loftiest courage is possible in our life-work. 
On this line hope comes back to the weary 
soul, courage to the fainting heart ; for we 
can say with Paul, " I can do all things 
through Christ which strengtheneth me." 
The power to endure is vastly better than 
finesse. Courage is better than cunning. 
It would be a frightful comment, if true, 
that " barbarism produced wolves, but civ- 
ilization produces foxes." Fortunately we 
may refuse either horn of the dilemma and 
" be men." The effort to do this is one to 
which the divine Word, the divine Spirit, 
and all the forces of heaven lend them- 
selves ; wherefore the undertaking is by 
no means a " lost art," but the most vital of 
all arts, as it is the most practical of all 
sciences. 



SELF-TRAiNING. 



SELF-TRAINING. 

A well-ripened character is the best 
product of the four seasons. It is fortu- 
nate that Nature does not deny to the 
poorest soil the right to produce " school- 
houses, churches, men" And where the 
difficulties are greatest we frequently find 
the product best. The benign climate of 
the Pacific gives us the largest growths ; 
but it is in the bleaker regions of the 
Atlantic that we find fruits with the finest 
flavor. There is a law of compensation ; 
and under Providence it rests largely with 
every man and every woman to determine 
the measure of self-development to which 
each shall attain. 

Self-culture was not superseded by inspi- 
ration. Paul wanted his books and parch- 
ments forwarded which he had left behind. 
Inspiration is the utmost heightening of 
3 25 



26 Self-Training. 

the intellectual perception in special direc- 
tions. Scriptural inspiration is the utmost 
heightening of the intellectual perception 
for spiritual ends. Peter was inspired 
when he fraternized with Gentiles at An- 
tioch ; but not when he practised dissimu- 
lation about it on Paul's arrival. Eternal 
vigilance is the price of all true virtue. 

Though perfect, because divine, Christ 
was evidently a close student of the Pen- 
tateuch, and even in the active years of his 
early ministry he was " wont" to frequent 
the synagogue. He knew, men. He knew 
Nature, from whom he gleaned so many 
figures to be used in illustrating the truths 
which he came to utter. 

By some it is held that man is neither 
an angel nor a demon. Others see in him 
both a demon of darkness and an angel 
of light. Emerson says, bitingly : " Every 
man is a divinity in disguise ; a god play- 
ing the fool. It seems as if heaven had 
sent its insane angels into our world as to 
an asylum. They utter at intervals words 



Self -Training. 2j 

they have heard in heaven ; then the mad 
fit returns and they mope and wallow like 
dogs." Rather emphatic ; and yet there is 
truth enough in the statement to lead 
every one to ask, Which shall have the 
ascendancy, — angel or demon? By all 
means chain the latter and let loose the 
angel. 

Watch the complex character as it drifts, 
decides, and acts. Drifting is facilitated 
by the adoption of false ideals. A certain 
romance touches the depths of fatalism 
when it affirms that u nothing matters." 
When the question was raised, Is life 
worth living? a doubt was started whose 
growth and influence have been aided by 
many morbid writers; with whom the 
Anatomy of Melancholy seems to be the 
master study. Analysis means dissection, 
not construction. Tyndall, we are told, 
when standing on an Alpine summit, was 
asked, "Do you not feel, here, that there is 
a God?" He replied, "I feel it, till you 
bid me prove it." 



28 Self-Training. 

It is just possible that the more logical 
we pride ourselves on becoming the less 
we may know. The Agnostic is not scien- 
tific when he " gets angry with us for 
believing his word," when he affirms that 
he knows nothing. One is reminded of 
v the express-messenger and the little dog 
confided to his care. At the end of the 
journey the question was asked, "Where is 
the dog going ?" The agent replied, " I 
dun 1 no, he dun* no, nobody dun' no ; 
he's chewed up his tag." It is unutterably 
sad to see a man who throws away his 
only guide to an immortal destiny, and 
makes his blindness a ground of boasting. 
Ignorance of biblical truth is a fruitful 
cause of mistake-making. It is the echo 
of truth, rather than the truth itself, with 
which the average man is acquainted. 
When the thing itself is unknown, he is 
familiar with its designation. A friend 
was once quizzing a talkative M.D. ; said 
he, " Doctor, what is your opinion of 
Materia Medica ?" The answer was a rev- 



Self-Training, 29 

elation, " I am not prepared to give an 
opinion, though I have seen the disease." 
A close perusal of the Word itself is the 
first step in the soul's emancipation from 
darkness; yet thousands criticise who do 
not read its pages. 

Extreme tendencies towards sharp anal- 
ysis produce equally sharp reactions. The 
weary brain turns from the midnight oil to 
the foot-lights and tinsel. Farce lies very 
close to philosophy ; and grave unwisdom 
should not be overmuch surprised at the 
modern Hep, Hurrah. A false worship 
of the pseudo-practical is another manifest 
danger. The man of the world forgets 
that gold-dust is only dust after all. 

Impressed by the law of reaction and its 
manifold illustration, a wise observer pre- 
dicts that the next sweep of the pendulum 
will be towards the stricter orthodoxy, — 
the hereditary foe of materialism in all its 
forms. 

Decision is a less pathetic study than 
drifting, but it is a more inspiring one. 
3* 






j o Self- Training. 

Do the eyes turn backwards, towards the 
past ? Is the face towards the future ? 
We watch with bated breath as the man 
passes from decision to action, seeking his 
ideals in the book of books. 

The pride of intellect has operated 
against assigning to biography its rightful 
place. The Bible stands alone ; as for the 
rest, biography is the crown of human 
literature. It is almost impossible to read 
Stanley's " Life of Arnold" without feeling 
that one has " been to college" in the act. 
Not material science, which sometimes 
mistakenly arrogates to itself a monopoly 
of the term, and leads men to study the 
soul as if it were, in kind, like the chemical 
gases, — not material science but human 
life should be more earnestly emphasized 
in the curriculum of our schools. It is 
well to be an expert with the crucible ; it is 
better to know and imitate a great soul. 
The Ava chapter in Judson's life is ablaze 
with heroic lightning. It is not a loss of 
time to follow Jonathan Edwards, as he 



Self-Training. ji 

shakes his mane and roars like a lion ; 
notwithstanding the narrow cage in which 
his last biographer confines him. This 
most intense of all American spirits is still 
waiting for a kindred genius, who will not 
dissect him like a dead lion, but follow his 
great soul as it strides upward, pausing at 
last upon the heights. 

Looking forward makes men of action. 
This transformed the monk Martin into 
the Luther of the Reformation. Heroes 
keep their gaze fixed upon the goal. The 
Christian victor runs "with patient endur- 
ance" the race set before him, " looking 
[away from all else] unto Jesus, the author 
and finisher of our faith :" " on the cross, 
the emblem of faith's power; on the 
throne, the emblem of faith's result." 



THE LIFE THAT NOW IS. 



33 



THE LIFE THAT NOW IS. 

The spirit of our age demands of every- 
thing, sacred and profane, that it shall pay. 
Whether the motive be high or not, the 
test is applied, the gauntlet is thrown 
down ; and the Christian need not fear the 
issue. Godliness pays. We speak it rever- 
ently. It has promise of the life that now 
is and of that which is to come. The life 
that now is constitutes the interest which 
it pays ; the life to come, the principal. 

Extreme Christians make too little of 
the life that now is. It is true that the 
Scriptures teach us to set our affection on 
things above; but that should not lead us 
to treat life as a worthless thing. Virtue 
is a good thing on earth as well as in 
heaven. Love and goodness are beautiful 
here as well as there. The celestial spirit 
sanctifies times and places. 

35 



j 6 The Life That Now Is. 

Another class to which we are indebted 
for distorted views of life consists of those 
who are perpetually asking, Is not life a 
failure ? The very question breeds doubt. 
If we were always to be burdened with 
such philosophies, life would scarcely be 
worth living. A third class — reckless, 
despairing — murmur, " Life is a poor farce, 
let us have done with it," — and the pistol 
is put to the temple. But life is a beautiful 
thing, a holy thing, if we will have it so. 
Yesterday God thought, and the golden 
cloud gathered on the western sky. Did 
you stop to behold it and enjoy it? God 
thought, and the forest flamed with 
autumnal red. Did you stop to enjoy 
that? From the flaxen-haired child, play- 
ing at your feet, the light of love streams 
forth to fill your whole soul. Did you 
thank God for it? The wife of your 
bosom poured her whole being into the 
cup of your life. Did you thank God as 
you drank it ? Godliness pays her subjects 
with life's sacred blessings — now. Some- 







The Life That Now Is. jy 

times in dealing with men you suffer losses. 
Your assets fail. Bad debts and bad 
debtors have to be nursed. Was there 
ever a man who lost anything by being 
godly ? There is a delicious recompense 
in doing right. We are warned against 
the maxim, Honesty is the best policy. 
Honesty is a good principle, in growing 
rich towards God, whether it multiplies 
farthings or not. The writer listened to a 
deacon with great interest as he related the 
following incident: A customer came into 
his store and asked for a pound of coffee. 
While weighing it out, occasion was taken 
to speak of treasures in heaven. The 
stranger took the coffee into an adjoining 
store, and said, " Please weigh that over 
again ; the man who sold it talked so much 
about religion I was led to doubt his 
scales." Said the deacon, " Thank God, 
it weighed an ounce over the pound." 
Christian rectitude pays. So with all the 
virtues which enter into godliness. It will 
prove quite as good a shield to men as to 
4 



j8 The Life That Now Is. 

women. In the Missouri penitentiary 
there are seventeen hundred and fifty male 
convicts; there are just thirty-three female. 
The fact that the men battled in the out-door 
world does not explain the mighty differ- 
ence. Susceptibility to Christian influence 
and control must figure in any true solution. 
But look at the principal, — the life that 
is to come. Sometimes you get very tired. 
No spot on earth seems so dear as that 
little space four by eight, where your loved 
one is lying, under the sod. You long for 
rest. The larger life allures you. Recently 
a friend drew near to death's door. Said 
he to a brother, " There are three things 
which I wish to tell you. To one situated 
as I was, earthly things grew small. The 
dying couch struck me as a poor place in 
which to get ready for the journey. Lastly, 
while I had no visions and experienced no 
ecstasies, I was brought to know God as I 
never knew him before." If such rays of 
light slant across the vestibule, what must 
the glory of the temple be ? 



The Life That Now Is. jp 

Eye hath not seen, with all its discerning 
power; ear hath not heard, amid all its 
treasured notes ; neither hath the heart of 
man conceived, with all its visions of bliss, 
what God, on earth as well as in heaven, 
hath prepared for those who love him. 



THE INFLUENCE OF LIFE UPON LIFE. 



THE INFLUENCE OF LIFE UPON LIFE. 

In emphasizing the sacrificial work of 
Christ, we should not ignore the moral 
force of character working on character, 
life on life, — of divine manhood working 
on human manhood, affecting character, 
life, and destiny. In short, we should seek 
to discern distinctly the Christly principle, 
poise, and power which the gospel faith- 
fully commends. 

In reference to Christly principle, it is 
quite true we are indebted to his grace for 
all that we secure or display; but some- 
thing more is meant than the apparent 
transformation which colored glass effects, 
when used to view bleak and unattractive 
objects. Something more is meant than 
the apparent transformation which a veil 
effects when one is used to ornament an 
unattractive face. If we are in Christ and 

43 



4.4- The Influence of Life Upon Life. 

Christ is in us, our convictions will par- 
take of the nature of his convictions; our 
emotions will resemble his emotions; our 
principles will be like his principles, and 
our energies will conform to his energies, 
— so vitally are we influenced by Jesus 
Christ. 

We apply a twofold test to life with its 
duties and activities : first, how are these 
related to the essential fatherhood of God ? 
then, how are they related to the inexor- 
able brotherhood of men? Proximity to 
Jesus may at any moment be determined 
by the strength, or weakness, of our con- 
victions and actions in these two direc- 
tions. We may so break away from these 
two principles as to lose ourselves hope- 
lessly in a guilty distance from Christ ; we 
may have a sense of their power, so quick 
and keen, as to feel that our lives are hid 
with Christ in God. Christ becomes liter- 
ally our head. We become, literally, 
members of a spiritual body; the life of 
every part affecting ourselves, but our own 



The Influence of Life Upon Life. 4.5 

life being drawn supremely from Christ, 
just as the tendril gathers its life from the 
parent vine. It is thus that our character 
is made to partake of the very character of 
Jesus, and our controlling principles to re- 
semble the very principles of Jesus. 

Christly poise grows naturally out of 
Christly principles. A great deal depends 
on moral poise, or spiritual balance. Ob- 
liquity obtains when that is wanting. Men 
may mean well, but there will be a lack of 
gravitation towards the good. A review of 
Seneca's life would illustrate the point. 
He uttered many noble sentiments; so 
noble that sceptics ask, " Did Seneca 
borrow from Paul, or did Paul borrow 
from Seneca ?" But history does not as- 
sert any efficient effort on Seneca's part to 
be Paul-like in action and life, or any 
effort on Paul's part to be Seneca-like 
in deportment. Lord Bacon's intellectual 
greatness was rivalled by his moral weak- 
ness. 

Any community would suffice if we 



4.6 The Influence of Life Upon Life. 

needed local illustration of the point before 
us. How often the papers present to us 
young men, well reared, so far as we 
know, well-meaning, but in a moment of 
temptation they are thrown off balance, 
and we read of deaths sadder than those 
of the coffin and the grave. 

Firm spiritual poise is a part of com- 
pleteness in Christ. There is the old story 
of John Wesley. Some one said to him, 
" Suppose you knew that you were going 
to die next Sunday night, what would you 
do ?" " Well, I should preach in the 
morning as usual, then meet my afternoon 
appointment as usual, preach at night, and 
go home, go to sleep, and wake up in 
glory." 

Is it any wonder that trials fail to affect 
such characters? Is it any wonder that 
Paul's strength grew with every test which 
his enemies applied? Is it any wonder 
that, like the veteran resting on his sword, 
he could look over the victorious field of 
battle and declare, %i I have striven the 



The Influence of Life Upon Life. ^7 

good strife, I have completed my course, 
I have kept the faith ; as for the rest there 
is laid up for me the crown of life which 
God the righteous Judge shall give me at 
that day." 

Christly power results from Christly prin- 
ciple and poise. The first is invincible, 
the second convinces us of its invincibility. 
Momentum and philosophy are perfectly 
compatible. True to those principles 
which Christ represents (briefly true to 
Christ), the soul may sweep along its 
wondrous orbit and add to the glory 
of God's spiritual constellations. How 
grandly Paul's spirit soared and glistened ! 
What a circle of glory marked the mag- 
nificent revolution of that later Paul, — 
Martin Luther ! 

We should study to be like these great 
spirits, as they were like Christ. 

Then let us study the motives of Christ. 
Our beginnings may be modest. Some of 
the best scholars of the world have been 
poor, illiterate lads, with only a torch or 



/f.8 The Influence of Life Upon Life. 

candle to light the way along which they 
should one day walk. The humblest are 
they who excel in the study of the great 
motives which underlay the ideal life and 
character of the Son of man. We can 
discover these motives in the living Chris- 
tian virtues which grace our age. We see 
them more plainly, yet not more humanly, 
presented in the Gospel ; which is as vital 
as when it was first given, and those who 
devoutly listen may hear the Spirit speak 
in a thousand ways, reaffirming the prin- 
ciples which controlled the life and shaped 
the influence of Jesus. 

Inbreathe the spirit of Christ. What 
earthly ardor is to human life, all that and 
more is heavenly ardor to the life of the 
soul. Deriving your life from Christ, 
gravitating constantly towards him, and 
inspired by his spirit, you may hope to be 
complete in him. If we fulfil our mission, 
God will fulfil for us our destiny. This 
side of life and that are really only two 
views of the one great life. If we are 



The Influence of Life Upon Life. 4.9 

true to this, God will be divinely true to 
that. 

Far up among the mountains the little 
stream takes its source. You can step 
across it at the fountain. Lower down 
among the valleys it absorbs other streams 
little like itself. You can ford it at that 
second stage. On it sweeps, growing as it 
flows. It becomes at length a river, bear- 
ing on its bosom laden crafts that ply be- 
tween great cities. Later still, the mighty 
waters blend with the mightier gulf, and 
the gulf blends with the grand old ocean. 
Such, and so related, are the stages of our 
growth in the Christly life. We must 
seek completeness at every stage, for that 
specific stage ; if we dare to hope for that 
absolute completeness which shall crown 
our future life. 



MORAL ARCHITECTURE: 
THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE. 



51 



MORAL ARCHITECTURE: 
THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE. 

All creatures are builders, — material, in- 
tellectual, or moral. Man has been called 
a trading animal. He is also a constructor ; 
building villages on lakes and plains. Kings 
found cities to perpetuate their rule and 
name, and empires are built as memorials 
of human greatness. A Disraeli, with his 
wand, fixed the limits of the airy, floating 
kingdom in which he lived ; a Bismarck, 
with sterner grasp, wrought with iron-like 
material, and Gladstone is to-day toiling 
honestly but feebly to build more wisely 
than they all. 

Schools of thought attest man's build- 
ing tendency and power. Lands in which 
specialties prevail are rich in illustration of 
this fact. Bacon, in England, laid the 
broad foundation on which practical Eng- 
5* 53 



5^ Moral Architecture : 

lish philosophy has been in process of 
development for centuries. Newton, purer, 
if not greater, wrought with kindred 
genius. In Germany, Leibnitz and Kant, 
in chosen fields, put forth their power ; and 
Goethe established a school of poetry and 
philosophy which Germans " will not will- 
ingly let die." Grandest of all, Shake- 
speare, the great apostle of common sense, 
built for the English-speaking ages, — for 
the world. 

Nobler, however, than all these builders 
is he who conscientiously seeks to lay the 
grander foundation of moral character. 
We should not forget that intellectual 
building alone will not suffice. The gifted 
Bacon, with some degree of right, earned 
the title " greatest and meanest of man- 
kind." Character-building could never 
rest satisfied with that. The perfecting of 
nature in holiness — " wholeness" — is its 
aim and limit, This is the Christian's life- 
work, " Perfecting holiness in the fear of 
God." The qualifications affecting this 



The General Principle. 55 

work are practical and positive. The first 
is a quick perception of the wrong, of evil. 
Possibly no man will ever be lost — or 
saved — because of his theory of the origin 
of evil. Difficulties without limit invest 
that question. Quietly resting in Coblentz, 
on the Rhine, following out the teachings 
of a sermon delivered by a Reformed 
Pfarrer, our mind drifted towards the belief 
that evil meant simply the withdrawal of 
the good, of God therefore ; as darkness 
means the absence of light. But no theory 
survived more extended thought, nor, 
indeed, has any man solved the problem. 
Hence we say no one will be saved or lost 
because of his view of the origin of evil. 
But what about his voluntary relation to 
evil? One's view of the practical work- 
ings of sin are inconceivably important. 
We must have a quick perception of the 
wrong ; sincere regret must follow. This is 
more valuable as a sign than as a cause of 
reformation. 

The lingering remnants of pure princi- 



56 Moral Architecture : 

pies show that life exists. Pain is an 
indicator of vitality; regret resembles pain 
in many features. Religious sensibility, 
conviction, life, are all interwoven. Let no 
thread be ruthlessly broken. The message 
of regret should be obeyed. Uncompro- 
mising resistance should follow in the proper 
time. It is not enough to regret, — simple 
regret may enfeeble. Whately believed 
that even good emotions, continually ex- 
cited " without corresponding actign," were 
enfeebling. Sighing and weeping have 
their place; but the arm to be strengthened 
must wield the weapon of defence and re- 
sistance. No armistice should be allowed ; 
Satan and sin resisted in the fear of God, 
are Satan and sin put to flight ; and that 
flight means victory and manly liberty. 

Speaking more positively, a quick per- 
ception of the right is an important factor 
in the building of character. The Spirit 
plants the germ ; but once implanted, it 
may be cultivated to a marked degree. 

Mental philosophies tell us of a gather- 



The General Principle. $J 

ing of connoisseurs sampling wine from a 
noted cellar. One remarked, " I detect 
something that tastes like iron. ,, Another 
said, " I detect something that tastes like 
leather." Descending to the cellar, and 
examining the receptacle, they found in it 
a key with a leather thong ! Exaggerated? 
Possibly ; but it enforces the importance of 
cultivating the moral sense, which sur- 
passes physical taste in its delicacy and 
strength. Concentration of mind and habit 
will go very far towards success. 

Sincere longing is not less important. 
The heart must be enlisted ; the affections 
interested. Conviction is not enough. A 
sense of duty will not suffice. Principle is 
vastly important, but " liking," love, works 
more promptly and more efficiently. Great 
reforms are sometimes acted out before 
they are reasoned out. Whether wise or 
unwise, these revolutions are the children 
of enthusiasm. Whatever we think about 
the past, the little State of Kansas plunged 
with glowing passion into our great revolu- 






5<? Moral Architecture : 

tion and, right or wrong, she won; and 
more recently she has plunged into another, 
and seems likely to win again, destined, 
seemingly, to thrust before the Ameri- 
can people the problem of prohibition. 
Missouri and the land may have to 
confront it sooner than we think. Be the 
revolution a wise one or an unwise one, the 
principle stands, — viz., that impulses are 
mightier than principles in solving the 
problem of humanity. Luther did not 
know that he was destined to forsake his 
mother church. He had not measured the 
logic of his first position. Even Paul 
confesses that love is greater than hope, 
which has to do with the future, and 
greater than faith, which has to do with 
creeds and the embodiment of principles. 
Earnest seeking will issue out of earnest 
longing. By meditation, the study of 
God's word, and personal exhibition of holy 
lives it will manifest itself. By prayer, 
deep, David-like, the soul is aided. An- 
drew Fuller, the great English Baptist, 



The General Principle, jp 

filled his diary with confessions of sinful- 
ness and cryings out after God, — like the 
hunted and famished hart beside the water 
brook. Healthful surroundings, like health- 
ful mountain air, are needed. Exercise in 
gospel enterprise and effort will act like 
exercise on the physical system, invigo- 
rating the whole man. A noble religious 
hero once said that the Christian was "ein 
Werden, nicht ein Geworden sein," — ever 
growing, never grown. Paul, counting 
himself to have not yet apprehended, de- 
termined to do this one thing, — " to press 
towards the mark" (or according to the 
mark) " for the prize." Such should be 
our aim to-day. 

If we cherish piously the growing plant, 
the first budding will appear in due season, 
to be followed by the perfect blossoming of 
aims and principles and powers. The life- 
spirit of the Christian is described in the 
words, " In the fear of God." With that 
we are to begin the work, and with it to 
carry it forward and complete it. Loving 



60 Moral Architecture, 

reverence, a recognition of divine authority, 
lies at the foundation of every great and 
lasting work. The authority of superiority 
precedes, or at least keeps pace with, love 
in the training of a child ; and all men are 
children of varying growth. Deeper and 
deeper, tenderer and tenderer, should be 
our estimate of God's authority and guid- 
ance. In such spirit let us seek to com- 
plete, perfect the work. The perfection of 
holiness will be found to embrace the full- 
bringing of every grace. Faith, hope, and 
love will assuredly not be wanting; but 
will crown the final triumph. 

According to one's ideal or standard 
will be his attainment in the building of 
character. Strive to be perfect; not as 
angel or archangel, but "even as your 
Father who is in heaven is perfect. ,, 



MORAL ARCHITECTURE: 
THE PARTICULAR ELEMENTS. 



6 1 



MORAL ARCHITECTURE: 
THE PARTICULAR ELEMENTS. 

A religious editorial in an enterprising 
daily presented, some time ago, "A Prob- 
lem for the Clergy." The developed un- 
belief, no longer latent but manifest, that 
displays itself in so many ways, was sug- 
gestively pictured as robbing our churches 
of men and leaving them to be filled by 
women and their ministers. Quite forci- 
bly the statement was made that this state 
of things was not to be changed by 
periodical denunciations from the pulpit. 
To what, then, should we look for a 
remedy ? 

We would not ignore, for one moment, 
the place' and power of the Holy Spirit, 
from whom must come the potent influ- 
ence by which the tendency of our age is 
to be met and mastered. But through 
what agencies? Practical unbelief must 

63 



64. Moral Architecture : 

be met by practical illustrations of Chris- 
tian manhood and womanhood, — by char- 
acters in which the power of faith lives, 
and through which the light of faith shines 
daily. When doubt pervades the business 
world or the social world, it is character 
that interposes to reinstate dethroned con- 
fidence. So it is in the moral and spiritual 
world. Men do not, will not read the 
Bible, but they scan the lives of professing 
Christians, and, failing to see the evidence 
of anything sublime, ideal, or spiritual, 
they make haste to deny the existence of 
a divine source, whence comes the inspira- 
tion and enthusiasm of the real believer. 
Sanctified Christian manhood and woman- 
hood, resting upon a great, grand faith in 
God, will solve the problem of unbeliefs 
dark day. Faith is the foundation upon 
which Piety rears her temple ; it is the soil 
out of which godliness springs and grows ; 
it is the school, the atmosphere, the 
element in which all spiritual growth is 
attained. 



The Particular Elements, 65 

For believers as well as unbelievers faith 
solves many problems by looking beyond 
present clouds and tempests. A friend 
once journeyed beside the sea of Galilee 
when a storm-cloud swept over it. Pitch- 
ing his tent he waited for the rain, which 
soon came down in torrents. The wind 
threatened the overthrow of the tent, and 
caused him to look forth again and again. 
Far away in the distance the lightning 
flashed upon Mount Hermon, clad in per- 
petual snow, serene and undisturbed by the 
storm about the sea. Was it not natural 
that the thought should flash upon him ? — 
How true to the life of Christians ! we may 
be overwhelmed by storm and tempest, 
but our faith has only to look through 
the vivid darkness to see the heavenly 
Hermon, serene and calm and beautiful. 
Those who gain these heavenly visions are 
proofs incarnate of faith's power. 

In faith add virtue. By minds spiritu- 
ally occupied, without exception, virtue 
will be secured. The camellia cannot tell 
6* 



66 Moral Architecture : 

you why it is pure ; the violet cannot tell 
why it is fragrant. These are character- 
istics of the choicest flowers. Characters 
may attain to similar purity and beauty, if 
only the planting and the maturing of the 
Divine hand be sought. But the martial 
element predominates in the Latin con- 
ception of the word " virtue" as Wm. R. 
Williams was quick to see. In the Greek 
it is the superlative of " the good," " best- 
ness," if we make a word. Evidently the 
heroic element should not be excluded. 
In this practical day, when dollars and 
cents are universal standards, it is well to 
emphasize that which is ideal, heroic. 
Let us admire this in others, even if we do 
not realize it in our own struggling lives. 
Thence comes that spirit of unselfishness 
which renders self-immolation, altruism, 
possible. Spiritual heroism is its highest 
form, celestial ardor, which enables the 
wounded soldier, dying while the wound 
is being probed, to exclaim, " A little 
deeper, probe a little deeper, doctor, and 









The Particular Elements. 67 

you will find — the emperor !" not of 
France, but of a kingdom more immortal 
still. 

In virtue add knowledge. In an age of 
light and learning, it is criminal to be 
voluntarily ignorant; and yet when we 
know all that science has said, how in- 
adequate our knowledge ! True, lessons 
drawn from rocks and mines and plants, 
have their value, but they can never satisfy 
the soul. A higher knowledge is needed 
of the soul itself, of its God, the future 
Intelligence is very near to divinity; but 
the fact makes necessary the apostolic in- 
junction : 

In knowledge add temperance, or " bal- 
ance." Lucifer, prince of the morning, 
was exalted to heaven in knowledge, but 
cast down to hell, because of his intem- 
perate ambition and arrogance. Knowl- 
edge may ripen into wisdom, but it often 
deteriorates into pride. It is a singular 
fact that young converts stand in great 
danger just here. The thrill of the new- 



68 Moral Architecture : 

born joy which pervades mind and heart, 
when Jesus first becomes known, is electri- 
fying, and to the electrified, spiritual pride 
is possible. Learn to know all that God 
and conscience and the Spirit may impart, 
but let humility temper thy knowledge 
into wisdom, that self-mastery may be 
retained. 

What shall we say of those who are not 
even converts ? The exalted scientist who 
vaults into the theories of arrogance or 
presumption and reads the Deity out of 
the universe is a stranger to temperance or 
self-mastery. All honor to science. What 
God has written on the rocks is just as 
true as what stands written in the gospel. 
But the man who walks the giddy heights 
of science needs to bow before the author 
of a world so grand. Of the neophyte 
nothing need be said. Among the practi- 
cally intemperate stand the reckless lead- 
ers of the world of fashion. Women, 
destined to be princesses unto the good 
and the beautiful, sometimes forget their 



The Particular Elements, dp 

altar and shrine in the feverish struggles 
and rivalries of "style." To women the 
world is looking, God is looking for the 
gentle leaven which shall leaven all man- 
kind. 

Of the gourmand and the drunkard, 
twin brothers in shame, much need be 
said. For the drunkard, it is true, the 
world entertains a romantic sympathy. 
He is usually generous to a fault and 
clever. But for shame, that the man him- 
self will so far forget himself and make all 
that is celestial within him simply bestial, 

" Sowing the seeds of eternal shame," 

despite the call to immortality. 

In true temperance add patience. " The 
cross is heavy. . . . 

Father, take my hand, 
And, reaching down, 
Lead to the crown 

Thy child !" 

And remember that angelic patience 
means more than resignation. In essence 



jo Moral Architecture : 

it is patient endurance ; blending the hardi- 
hood of the veteran with the trustful obe- 
dience of the child. 

In patience add Godliness. The word 
Godliness signifies Godlikeness; but that 
is too strong for the present term. That 
would include every virtue, instead of 
being a specific virtue itself. Then, too, 
the word here is " devoutness," or piety, — 
fragrant above incense to God and to 
man. 

In devout piety add brotherly kindness. 
These virtues evidently work towards an 
appropriate outward expression. The man 
who fails to maintain an attitude of kind- 
ness to his fellow-creatures will not be 
trusted in his relations to his great Cre- 
ator, for unfaithfulness to the seen is in- 
fidelity to the unseen. 

Man's brotherhood is the second of the 
two cardinal principles in Christ's philos- 
ophy and kingdom. The fatherhood of 
God, the brotherhood of man, are forever 
associated, with all the warrant of fact and 



The Particular Elements. yi 

law and gospel. Treasure brotherly kind- 
ness, for piety is barren without it. 

In brotherly kindness add love, — a prin- 
ciple as well as a sentiment. This is the 
soundest and greatest of all virtues, and 
fosters all the rest. It was and is the 
supreme motive-power in the bosom of the 
father, whose pulsings are his children's 
life. Love throbs in the great creative 
acts, the tender providences, the grace of 
God. Inbreathe that, O mortal, if thou 
wouldst be immortal. Thou shalt then, 
on apostolic, divine authority, become, 
through the promises of God, a " partaker 
of the Divine nature;" and to thee shall 
be administered abundantly an entrance 
into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ. 



THE WORK OF LIFE: SOWING. 



73 



THE WORK OF LIFE: SOWING. 

Nothing germinates like seed. Carved 
acorns are beautiful to the eye, but they 
produce no oaks. The sowing of the act- 
ual seed precedes the genuine harvest. 

The pastor should lead in this work. It 
is a mistake, growing daily more common, 
that his duties lie overwhelmingly along 
the line of building up believers. Said a 
prominent worker in the Young Men's 
Christian Association : " My brother, it is 
your work to build us up; it is our work 
to win sinners to Christ. ,, A great half- 
truth, surely. 

It is true, however, that in a sense not 
yet realized church-members are sowers of 
the seed. How can pastors secure the best 
results for the Master and for souls, and 
how can they induce the members of the 
churches to accomplish a like work ? 

75 



j6 The Work of Life : Sowing, 

They should strive, first of all, after 
greater spiritual vitality on their own part. 
The semblance of fire will not warm ; the 
semblance of life will not quicken. Henry 
Ward Beecher, the greatest actor on the* 
American stage, is credited with saying 
substantially, " If you haven't the fire, 
hide your weakness ; seem to glow !" A 
child will ultimately see through such a 
sham. So with the artificial emotion which 
sometimes passes for spiritual vitality, and 
so, largely, with rhapsody and electric en- 
thusiasm, which are self-generated, self- 
evolved. One must have the actual Christ- 
force in order to be genuinely forceful. 

Then comes self-giving. From every 
pore there should (and there will) stream 
forth real spiritual electricity, and the joy 
of it all will be that it comes from heaven. 
We should strive after the great verities 
and hold hard by them. Real God at one 
end of the line and real man at the other. 
Nothing divine is alien to me, consorts fitly 
with Thomas Arnold's quotation from a 



The Work of Life : Sowing. 77 

loved author : . " Nothing human is alien to 
me." 

Then to the work ! What work ? Why, 
making men believe our message, and our 
conviction growing out of it. And the 
message? " God so loved the world that 
he gave his only begotten Son, that who- 
soever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have everlasting life/' Luther's " little 
Bible," as he called it. 

Reliance on the Spirit of God should 
not merely be taken for granted. The flint 
should be examined with every use of the 
gun. Otherwise how are we to rely on the 
fire? Then we should aim to hit. After 
thoughtful observation, the conviction has 
been reached that synthetic, not analytical, 
preaching is the more fruitful means in the 
conversion of souls. Analytical preaching 
is too likely to be introverted. Preachers 
of this type drift naturally into professor- 
ships. We find superlatively good men 
with a twofold endowment, like Brooks 
and Broadus, in pulpits and in institutions 
7* 



j8 The Work of Life : Sowing. 

of learning, but the analytical class fur- 
nishes the majority. 

The gospel concave may be presented as 
grand as the firmament, but it is the gospel 
convex that penetrates. Taking hearers 
into the study of methods is good as far 
as it goes ; but to move them with concrete 
truth, — that is the preachers mission, and 
should be his passion. 

Thus thinking, praying, working, we 
shall find God's Spirit before us in the 
work. Not one of us realizes our ideal, 
but the holy fire still burns on the Lord's 
altar. May lip and hand and life be in- 
spired by it for the blessed work ! 

But the rank and file, — what about them? 
Are pastors and evangelists to monopolize 
the work ? The church, for Christ's sake, 
exists for the benefit of the weak within it 
and without it. The members, therefore, 
are not to put forth the minimum of 
energy, but the maximum. Can we 
get the churches to realize this ? The 
same specific work may not devolve upon 



The Work of Life : Sowing. yg 

every one, but to each the proper work 
should be assigned. Just here the true 
pastor questions his own ability; but he 
must do his best. One thing we must do, 
— pray and labor that soul-saving become 
not a lost art in our churches. Shall we 
try special meetings ? Yes, if either of two 
conditions exists, — viz., great deadness or 
a flow of life which overruns the usual 
channels. Almost anything is better than 
death, and every agency should be em- 
ployed in the day of God's power. Ordi- 
narily the interest should be concentrated 
in the regular services and the normal 
work of the members. A pastor, Lyman 
Beecher, when asked how it was that his 
charge showed such continuous vitality, 
replied, "The sermon which I preach to 
four hundred on Sunday is preached by 
four hundred throughout the week/' 

The spirit of expectation has a great 
deal to do with continued success. Who 
does not grow weary even in well-doing ? 
" Oh, sir, I preach and preach, and no- 



?o The Work of Life : Sowing* 



body is converted, " said a young man to 
Spurgeon. " Do you expect somebody to 
be converted every time you preach ?" said 
Spurgeon. " Oh, no." " Then that is just 
the reason why you fail." And the great 
London preacher did not greatly err. Let 
this idea enter the minds of Christian 
workers generally. The London Taber- 
nacle bears witness to the grace of God 
and the power of God, because preacher 
and people are one in the great work. The 
proxy idea must go. The pastor is not 
employed like a hireling to do the people's 
work. He is called to lead them in a 
work which they must do, or suffer 
atrophy. " Work or die," hangs over the 
heads of churches and individuals alike. 

Pastors can help each other in doing 
God's work, by conscientiously and dis- 
criminatingly building up the influence of 
brother pastors ; not by shallow praise, but 
by a generous recognition of the good 
work God may have enabled each to do. 
Families with church letters have been 



The Work of Life : Sowing. 81 

led to waver because they could not under- 
stand the attitude of rival pastors. " Out- 
siders" have been made to stumble. And 
yet a word or a look was all. In God's 
work there should be no waste of force. 
Churches can help each other. The 
Christian element in every city will see a 
work of grace, long desired, when Christ- 
like love beams in every eye and a Christ- 
like passion for souls glows in every heart. 



THE LIVING WAY. 



Sj 



THE LIVING WAY. 

Every age has had its seekers after God. 
Epictetus, Emerson, Tennyson, each in his 
own way felt the power of the soul's su- 
preme magnet. What is universal in human- 
ity is of chief significance in judging the 
race. Nevertheless, particulars weigh, in- 
asmuch as every phase of civilization is 
resident in every community. 

The slave, Epictetus, was the intellectual 
prince of his day, as he stoutly maintained 
the independence of the soul amid the limi- 
tations of the body, and the passion of the 
soul for seeking after God. England's poet- 
laureate goes a step further, as he pictures 
the great world's altar-stairs leading through 
darkness up to God. Midway between the 
two, Emerson moved like a twilight Viking 
seeking to peer through the mist in the 
effort to find out God. All had the true 
8 8s 



86 The Living Way. 

heart of the mariner, — they only lacked the 
compass. Of them, as of the great Athe- 
nians, it may be said that they worshipped 
the " Unknown God." 

The twilight and mist disappear when 
Christ emerges from the gloom, exclaiming, 
" I am the way" — to God. Not merely the 
way to heaven when you die, but the way 
to God now. " The Truth," too; and there- 
fore the truth-lit way. " The Life," also ; 
and therefore the living way. No man 
cometh unto the Father but by him. 

When the Concord philosopher and poet 
most needed the intellectual faculties on 
which he had come to rely, they failed him. 
Just as he was about to launch out into the 
unknown future, he proved his decadence. 
His best friend, Longfellow, lay before him 
in the sleep of death, and he, as stated, 
could only whisper that the face was famil- 
iar, yet unknown. 

When the greater Teacher felt the chill 
of Gethsemane and of Calvary creeping 
over him, his words grew more and more 



The Living Way, 8y 

luminous, for the light of eternity flashed 
through and through them : " In my 
Father's house are many mansions ; if it 
were not so, I would have told you." — I 
would not trifle with the holiest sensibilities. 
— " I go to prepare a place for you." The 
sincerity of Jesus is the highest proof of a 
conscious immortality. He knew more than 
any other man ; and, knowing more, he 
pledged his learning and his veracity, his 
knowledge and his sincerity, as the guaran- 
tee of the soul's future life. 

The conception of life which the Gospel 
presents is very different from that which 
we have come to hold. It is qualitative 
rather than quantitative : " To know God" 
is life eternal. It penetrates the recesses 
of Eternity, if it lasts only a minute.* It 
is of the very essence of Eternity. True, 
it ministers to spiritual longevity. The 
cycles of the soul will be in keeping with 
its knowledge and its immortal growth ; 

* Compare Drummond. 



88 



The Living Way. 



but the moral quality will always be 
dominant, while, of course, the time-ele- 
ment will have its place. A day of Eng- 
land matches a "cycle of Cathay;" and 
a day of heaven will match a cycle of 
this world. 

A knowledge of the good and great ex- 
pands the soul as mountain air expands the 
lungs. The more of it one breathes, the 
more of it one can continue to breathe. 
Life, not time, is the measurement of life. 
To know the best of the race is an educa- 
tion in itself. To know God is life ever- 
lasting. 

The manner in which Christ solves the 
greatest of all problems is unique. He 
does not offer a system of philosophy, he 
merely states a fact: "I am the way," the 
living way. No hesitation weakens his 
affirmation ; no doubt lurks in his words. 
The theoretical teacher tries to explain 
to a child what New York is like. The 
mother takes it in her arms and says, 
" Come, I'll take you there." That was 



The Living Way, 8p 

Christ's method. Better than that, while 
the mere friend is seeking to describe to 
the child the appearance of the father, who 
is about to return, the mother takes it in 
her arms and, with it, meets the father at 
the gate. Christ bears us in his arms to 
the Father. Glimpses he gives us now; 
the fuller view he will give us by and by. 
It is the delight of the Gospel to mix 
heaven and earth. Only superficial philos- 
ophy separates them. In the New Testa- 
ment it is hard to draw the line of demarca- 
tion. Indeed, it cannot be drawn. The 
kingdom of heaven is always a unit with 
two sides, the earthly and the heavenly. 
While it is " not of this world" in spirit, it 
is always here, as well as there ; now, as 
well as hereafter. Spiritual life, in like 
manner, is also a unit. Its beginnings may 
be like that of the brook. You can easily 
measure it at the source. Later it becomes 
a stream, a river. It blends with the gulf, 
the gulf with the ocean. Eternal life be- 
gins with the soul's knowledge of God. It 
8* 



9° 



The Living Way. 



may widen and deepen ; but increase in 
this knowledge precedes the ocean like 
vastness. In order to know God hereafter, 
we must know him here. Christ seizes 
this great fact and makes it the every-day 
fact of his ministry : " O righteous Father, 
the world hath not known thee ; but I 
have known thee, and these have known 
that thou hast sent me." The mis- 
understood Father was to be presented 
afresh to his children, so that they 
could not possibly fail to know him. 
Then life with them would begin, never 
to end. 

We can imagine the look and tone of 
disappointment which characterized Christ 
when Philip said, " Show us the Father, 
and it sufficeth us." " Have I, alas, been 
so long with you, Philip, in vain? For 
more than two years the burden of my 
ministry has been to disclose to you the 
Father in myself; and yet hast thou not 
known me? Behold, he that hath seen me 
hath seen the Father." The son's face is 



The Living Way. pi 

ofttimes better than the father's photograph. 
It was surely so with Christ. 

From the first step to the last Truth lends 
its light, making bright the way, which in 
turn throbs with electric life for the feet 
which might otherwise grow weary. Vital 
knowledge becomes transformed into con- 
scious life. 



THE FINAL MANIFESTATION. 



93 



THE FINAL MANIFESTATION. 

All eyes were once turned towards 
Washington to see what kind of man the 
President would appoint to succeed a la- 
mented Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court. 
The largest, noblest type was needed for 
a place so lofty. Why do the people 
hold the robe and ermine in such esteem ? 
Because they stand for the highest and 
most exalted court of appeal in the land. 
But with all the dignity which attaches to 
it, what is it after all compared with the 
great tribunal before which the hearts of 
all men shall be bared ! The day is 
coming when men will cease from deceiv- 
ing their fellow-men. Thomas Carlyle 
saw, with his burning eyes, through many 
shams, but he offered little help to those 
whom he bewildered. A famous divine in 
an Eastern city was quietly asked if he was 

95 



g6 The Final Manifestation. 

a humbug. We wonder if he did not 
make answer with a tinge of sadness, since 
any man could ask another such a question, 
however invulnerable he may have been 
himself. In the white light of the judg- 
ment, deception will be unveiled. Few 
things in all the world are so dangerous 
as a sham. It shoots both ways, smiting 
deceiver and deceived alike. 

But there are those who have deceived 
themselves. They, too, will be " made 
manifest" before the judgment-seat of 
Christ. They thought that they stood for 
God and the good, when, alas, they were 
standing all the while for themselves. 
They thought that the notes of pleasure to 
which they listened came from the skies, 
when, alas, they sprang from the ground. 
They thought the horizon of their life 
reached far towards the heavenly border, 
when, alas, it stopped at their very feet. 
All self-deception will have an end at the 
great assize. 

In view of coming judgment, don't judge 



The Final Manifestation. gy 

others. How dare we do it? Their ways 
we may condemn, but how dare we pass 
judgment on the poor offenders, when we 
ourselves will soon be judged? Then 
says the apostle substantially : " Do not 
trip others up." It seems strange that the 
human heart should furnish room for the 
desire to make others stumble. 

A man in ruins is an awful thing. No 
old castle can compare with him. Would 
you press the cup to the lips of a husband 
who stood trembling before you, hesitating 
whether to destroy his home or not ? 
Oh, no ; and yet some have done it. Put 
no stumbling-stone in the way of your 
brother. Be no stumbling-stone yourself. 
The Christian who causes others to " offend" 
should get out of the way. A marble slab 
may yield an angel of beauty to the artist, 
but if it lies in the way, — between a soul 
and the judgment-seat, — let it get out of the 
way. Is it snow that stops the train ? 
" Shovel it away." Don't put on more 
steam. As has been said, it may only burst 
9 



p8 The Final Manifestation. 

the boiler. Clear the track and let the 
precious freight go forward. 

Do not miss the meaning of the king- 
dom of God. It is not meat and drink, 
but " righteousness, peace, and joy in the 
Holy Ghost." The apostle could say, 
" With your eye on the judgment-seat, 
grasp righteousness first of all." " Christ's 
righteousness ?" you ask. Yes ; but Christ's 
righteousness, fitting like a garment of fire, 
till the soul casts off its carnal dross. To 
the great men, whose lives have blessed 
the world, life was like a robe of fire. Seek 
righteousness first, and out of that " peace" 
will grow; and out of peace "joy" will 
spring. But men reverse the order and 
seek joy first. Not so, advises Paul. 
With our nature purified, we may walk 
on life's lofty heights with God as Enoch 
did. These are lessons which all should 
think about who are not avowed believers. 

Don't judge poor stumbling Christians. 
They are very weak, but blessed thought, 
they are the sons of God. A father clings 



The Final Manifestation. gg 

to his erring son. A mother keeps her 
arms around her crippled girl — so fondly. 
Does God do less ? He loves his child 
with a father-like, God-like love, not be- 
cause it is a good child, or a bad child, but 
because it is " his child. " I cannot under- 
stand how some men consent to " hiss the 
church," even when they applaud the name 
of Christ to the echo. It is surely doing 
something. Help it to do more. Christ 
intends that it shall do more. Another 
thought : Do not trip a Christian when he 
tries to walk. There lurks in human 
nature, from boyhood up, a disposition to 
spread lines over which the passer-by may 
stumble. No harm meant, do you say? 
But harm is done. How vastly better to 
clear the way before believers that they 
may do their work ! Many a " rough" has 
stood between a preacher and a mob 
simply because he favored fair play, — the 
Anglo-Saxon's maxim. If every man 
would help every other man, the world 
would be greatly better. When the hour 



ioo The Final Manifestation. 

of judgment comes it will go hard with 
those who offend Christ's " little ones." 

Do not miss the meaning of destiny. 
When you stand before the Judge you will 
be sent forward to fulfil the chosen logic 
of your life. How does the sinner live on 
earth ? If he can answer that question he 
can decide just how he shall live hereafter. 
The miser will appear before the throne 
with his propensities retained and fixed, 
without the opportunity longer to gather 
and to hoard. The drunkard will come 
with his propensities fixed, the logical 
eternal expression of his own character. 
The rogue will come with tendency fixed 
forever, without the opportunity to steal. 
The heart corrupt and putrid will be left to 
its own base self. From all, God will strip 
the opportunity to re-enact their character- 
istic vice, but the trend of every character 
will be fixed; as in time so throughout 
all eternity. 

May nothing of the Pharisee cling to any 
of us. You remember how he congratu- 



The Final Manifestation, 101 

lated himself on being better than his 
fellows ; better than the poor publican. 
But while he was keenly offending God, 
the publican shook heaven with his prayer, 
" God be merciful to me, a sinner." 



9* 



SOLIDARITY: A SOCIAL STUDY. 



103 



SOLIDARITY: A SOCIAL STUDY. 

The waste of energy and the disinte- 
gration caused by extreme individualism 
make the appeal to unity the great social 
watch-word of the day. It goes to the 
heart of things. It brushes aside all 
superficial reforms based on liturgical 
or purely ecclesiastical movements, and 
presses to the precipice on which Christ 
stood appealing to the Father, with an 
infinite longing " that they all may be 
one!" 

THE TWOFOLD PRIN'CIPLE. 

This cry has in it the ring of a great 
principle, spiritual union with God, which 
is theocratic and union with each other, 
which is sociological. Back to God! must 
be the battle-cry in every movement to- 



io6 Solidarity : A Social Study. 

wards unity. The real divine headship is 
the pledge of solidarity. The choice of a 
man to be king turned the stream of human 
life in the wrong direction. Every great 
revolution has been the protest against this, 
and every true reformation has been a 
reaction towards divine headship. Both 
Carlyle and Mazzini would concede that 
these movements have been " national 
rather than broadly human," which fact 
has limited their influence. What is true 
of nations is true of individuals. While 
Christianity maintains the sanctity of the 
individual, it places a limit on individual- 
ism, by making responsibility the peer of 
liberty, and duties the peers of rights. 
Modern thought is leaning the other way. 
The atmosphere is charged with the " doc- 
trine of rights." What was a natural feel- 
ing when martyrs were burning has be- 
come a cold, secularizing, disintegrating 
force, more or less constant. Indeed, it is 
to be questioned whether we have realized 
the apostolic conception of humanity, or 



Solidarity : A Social Study. 107 

Christ's conception of the kingdom of God. 
While the Gospel is preached to the in- 
dividual, and is accepted by the individual, 
there is an influence, floating over all, from 
which a mighty force proceeds, — namely, 
the solidarity of the kingdom, — too little 
kept in mind. Our work is piecemeal. 
It has to be that, we say. But it should 
be more than that. The public-school 
system is more than the aggregate of its 
schools in the land. It has become an 
ideal force. It approximates entirety, soli- 
darity. The benevolent force of the day 
is more than the aggregate of agencies 
through which it expresses itself. It ap- 
proximates solidarity. It has not yet 
marshalled all, but it is solidifying the 
best. There is a subtle force which is too 
largely eluding us in religious work. The 
defect is not merely in the lack of co- 
operation; it is also in the absence of a 
clear conviction that solidarity is needed 
to save us from the leakages produced 
by extreme individualism. Some Christian 






108 Solidarity: A Social Study. 

bodies seek relief in human headship. 
The Ideal Christian Republic seeks a 
remedy in vital concentration around the 
divine centre, Christ. But vastly more 
than concentration is needed. Along 
with the movement of the units there 
must go the concentric force of the 
entirety. The family is more than the 
aggregate of individuals. It is that, of 
course ; but it is also more than that. 
Some groups never become families at all. 
Everywhere the need is to associate with 
individuality its twin sister, solidarity. In- 
dividualism may suffer from the spirit of 
the times, because of combinations and 
trusts, — industrial and ecclesiastical; but its 
twin sister has everywhere suffered from 
the incoherency and the disintegrating 
tendencies of mankind, even the best of 
mankind. Christ's prayer is sure to be 
answered. It will burn its way to its 
answer; we should not stand in its way 
lest we be scorched. The men of the 
world pool their prejudices; the men of 



Solidarity : A Social Study. lop 

the kingdom bury theirs, taking care that 
principles be not buried with them. We 
should get into line with that prayer, 
"That they all may be one," which di- 
rectly solves the problem of religious life, 
and also solves the problem of man's 
brotherhood, in duties and in rights. 



NOBLESSE OBLIGE: A SOCIAL STUDY. 



NOBLESSE OBLIGE : A SOCIAL STUDY. 

That Is poor milk which sends no cream 
to the top ; and yet a good many philoso- 
phers are like the Boston girl, who admired 
the far-away look in the eyes of the Jerseys 
on the farm, but preferred the blue milk of 
the city after all. 

Nature is not built, and does not build, 
on the dead level plan. No system which 
ignores this fact is ideally or practically 
sound. 

A genius for acquiring money is one of 
the factors in the world's progress. It is 
the genius for selfishly keeping or selfishly 
using it which proves hurtful. Men touch 
their hats to a Cambridge Peabody, but 
they take off their hats to the great phi- 
lanthropist who linked the same name to 
a lasting benefaction. More of these, not 
fewer of them, we need. The capitalists 

IO* //J 



iij. Noblesse Oblige: A Social Study. 

who built the Pacific railroads are not the 
people's enemies. For us there would be 
fewer next-door neighbors over the moun- 
tain were it not for the iron roadway. 
Large factories not only afford a living for 
hundreds of thousands, but they do more, 
they insure system and permanency, which 
the mixed leadership of masses would not 
be likely to do. A real head is vital to a 
real body. It is when the head receives 
an overplus of blood that the body suffers. 
Vital leadership is the great need of every 
age, — a leadership which recognizes that 
increase of privilege carries with it increase 
of obligation. A social philosophy which 
loses sight of this law, whether it be domi- 
ciled in college walls or planted on the 
sand-hills, will be misleading. The world 
finds it hard to learn that passion and logic 
must often go down before common sense. 
John C. Calhoun failed to learn this lesson 
from Webster, and the nation had to learn 
it over drawn swords. Agitators on both 
sides of the tariff question promise us an- 



Noblesse Oblige : A Social Study, iij 

other serious diversion, blind to the fact 
that extremes are the refuge of less judicial 
minds. 

It may be said, if leadership proves so 
disastrous, why stand for it ? The answer 
is plain. Nature orders it. All men, well 
informed and well intentioned, are greater 
than one man ; but there have been times 
when one man has shown himself greater 
than all other men. Leaving aside Caesar 
in warfare, there were Galileo and Newton 
in science, Moses and Luther in theology. 
Without such leadership human history 
would be other than it is and less noble 
than it is. It is not redistribution of prop- 
erty that is needed, but a diffusion of its 
benefits. Time is wasted in fruitless crimi- 
nations and recriminations, which might 
profitably be devoted to the formation of a 
public sentiment which is greater than exist- 
ing law because it is its source. 

If nature has endowed some men with 
extraordinary gifts, or granted exceptional 
advantages, they should consider the less 



n6 Noblesse Oblige: A Social Study. 

favored. Even if nobility of instinct does 
not lead them to pursue this course, they 
should remember that they may be with 
the vast majority again to-morrow. To the 
just the people will be generous ; the unjust 
they will reach, hotly, through public senti- 
ment, and coldly, through law. The jury 
system should be changed, and probably 
will be changed, so that one mercenary 
accident in the box will not be able to de- 
feat justice and the popular will. Senators 
should be elected by the people, so as to 
make it more expensive and more difficult 
to secure the election of biased advocates ; 
and the voters should be taught to see to 
it that they keep themselves alive to their 
dangers, their responsibilities, and their 
rights. 

Great reforms are usually beneficent when 
they come as a slow growth; and mutual 
concession is the line along which econom- 
ical and social questions adjust themselves ; 
not in a cold-blooded spirit of compromise, 
so much as in a wise consciousness of the 






Noblesse Oblige: A Social Study, ny 

fact that it takes two to make a compact as 
well as a contest. 

We are now prepared to say to the ex- 
ceptionally successful, Noblesse oblige. The 
greater the dignity the greater the duty. 
After all, moral training must do most of 
the work. Legal restraints should be care- 
fully preserved and increased, as necessity 
demands, until human nature improves. 
But human nature will improve and does 
improve. They who teach the contrary 
hold the race back. They are very honest, 
and, therefore, all the more impervious. In 
the olden days the Whigs stoutly main- 
tained that an opposing candidate for the 
vice-presidential nomination had placed a 
hundred-thousand-dollar-barrel subject to 
the order of his friends. Facilities for evil- 
doing have increased, but so have facilities 
for right-doing. One custodian of trust 
funds goes wrong, and the papers tell it at 
a thousand breakfast-tables. Not a word 
is said about the thousands who remain un- 
obtrusively true. In all the world's history, 



u8 Noblesse Oblige: A Social Study. 

when were its pages enriched by so long 
a list of princely and persistent provisions 
for the lame, the halt, the blind? When 
did wise men give so much thought and 
time and money to the amelioration of the 
condition of the defenceless, the defective, 
the delinquent, the depraved ? Many rich 
men are at the front. Ante-mortem and 
post-mortem endowments, involving mill- 
ions of dollars, widen the sphere of educa- 
tional eleemosynary activity every year, — 
money which could not otherwise have 
been so quickly and effectively concentrated 
on the points of supreme need. Then, too, 
the individual workers are beginning to 
share in the benefits of accumulated wealth; 
in better homes, better breathing-places, 
better education, provided very largely by 
voluntary or taxed wealth. Reservoirs 
sometimes precipitate destruction, but they 
are a recognized convenience under right 
conditions. Wise men are finding out that 
liberal dealing builds up one's assets in 
every way. It arouses the best impulses. 



Noblesse Oblige : A Social Study. 119 

It has been known, again and again, to in- 
spire men to live for one, to die for one. 
But it is its own best recompense ; notwith- 
standing the fact that it bestows the patent 
of nobility. Itself makes that patent real, 
without the factitious aid of selfish exclu- 
siveness. 

Shall the aristocracy of letters be ex- 
empted while others are reviewed? Its 
capital is real ; its members are parts of the 
social system. Have the people no claims 
upon them beyond the books for which 
they pay ? The earnest man of letters is a 
boon to the race. If the practical genius 
keeps us from star-gazing, he keeps us from 
a grosser worship. But is the growing ex- 
clusiveness of literary men a healthful sign 
or a helpful factor in the world's elevation ? 
The President of the United States is almost 
as accessible as some men whose simple 
touch refines. The world should be glad 
to have these benefactors weave the rarest 
fabrics in their beautiful homes overlooking 
the classic river or placid bay. But why 



120 Noblesse Oblige : A Social Study. 

should human touch or interruption terror- 
ize so many priests of literature, and lead 
them to withdraw their active personal sym- 
pathy from the world, except as it is paid 
for by the page ? The exceptions are many 
and marked. We salute them. 

Why should exclusiveness invade other 
spheres of activity, for instance, the minis- 
try ? It may not seem the thing for a pas- 
tor to be made a bureau of information in 
general and personal help in particular ; as 
when a stranger asks him to place a lot in 
the hands of a real estate agent, the pro- 
ceeds of sale to be forwarded as the sine qua 
non in completing a college course, and the 
like in an endless series. But why should 
not these things be ? A vital young man, 
well planted, may be greater than a sermon. 
A good deed may be greater than a book. 
Individual rights end where exclusiveness 
cuts the wires, which lead to the great 
world's heart. 



THE INTER-BIBLICAL PERIOD. 



THE INTER-BIBLICAL PERIOD. 

It is pleasant to view Niagara Falls or 
the Rhine, even through the window of a 
flying car. As we sweep by scene after 
scene in the great period of the Jewish 
Restoration, some lasting impression may 
result, quickening our interest in the 
Jewish race, our Jewish Gospel, and our 
Jewish Redeemer. Keil in Germany, 
Davidson in Great Britain, and others have 
directed the attention of Bible students to 
the Inter-biblical Period, strongly empha- 
sized by Dr. Broadus's review of Bissell's 
" Apocrypha." From German w r orkers in 
this rich mine we may expect greatly more. 

The importance of this period \v\\\ be seen 
if we notice 

I. ITS RELATION I £RAL HISTORY. 

A wise student of history will not ignore 
great transition periods. Even chaos 

'*3 



12$ 



The Inter-Biblical Period. 



the cradle of creation, (i) The Middle 
Ages struck sparks of light from the flint 
of the Orient and the Occident, fanned the 
religious spirit to a flame, spread a crude 
gospel in the East, and enriched the West 
with the treasures of the Orient. That 
was a period of transition. (2) Ferdinand 
and Isabella were central figures in an- 
other; crystallizing their provinces into a 
grand Spanish kingdom, competent to 
grapple with hostile hosts at home and 
discover Americas abroad. That period 
was worthy of a Prescott's pen. (3) Eng- 
lish history, under Henry VIII., marks the 
change from papacy to episcopacy in 
the English-speaking world. King Henry 
made Queen Bess a possibility. Conspic- 
uously (4) the French Revolution gives 
the key to the history of modern France. 
That Revolution was not the creator, but the 
creature of principles and passions, whose 
rumblings might have been heard before 
the bursting of the great volcano. (5) Re- 
ligious Germany, under Martin Luther, 






The Inter- Biblical Period. 125 

affords the most striking analogy to the 
Inter-biblical Period. The spirit of unrest, 
the longing for purer and better things, the 
interplay of religious fervor and patriotic 
zeal, — these make the Christian Reforma- 
tion and the Jewish Restoration closely akin. 

II. ITS RELATION TO NEW TESTAMENT 
HISTORY 

increases the importance of the Inter- 
biblical Period. It explains the origin of 
parties, places, principles. Itself the cra- 
dle of .some, it was the nursery of many 
more. Dr. Broadus, in a noted Review, 
says : 

" To neglect the inter-biblical history of 
the Jews is fatal to any thorough and vivid 
historical knowledge of the New Testa- 
ment. Matthew and Luke take us at once 
in medias res. These beginnings of a new 
thing evidently take place amid an old 
civilization, and we cannot look around on 
the Roman or the Jewish world without 
looking back. If we turn simply to the 
11* 



126 The Inter-Biblical Period. 

Old Testament it fails to explain much 
of what we encounter in the Gospels. 
Imagine a reader well acquainted with the 
Old Testament and its secular historical 
environment, who passes at once to a first 
examination of the Gospels. He will feel 
himself to be amid strangely new sur- 
roundings. Who is Herod, King of the 
Jews ? Is he a descendant of David ; and 
if not, how has he come to usurp the 
throne secured to David's line? Who is 
Caesar Augustus, issuing a decree to all 
the world ? We have seen Egyptian, 
Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian masters 
of Western Asia, claiming to reign over 
all the world, but who are these new 
rulers ? Not a few things also require to 
be explained in the social and economical 
condition of the Jews as indicated in the 
New Testament. But there are numerous 
and wonderful changes also in their relig- 
ious condition. Who are these Pharisees 
and Sadducees constantly coming before 
us, and evidently exerting so powerful an 



The Inter-Biblical Period. 12J 

influence on religious thought and life? 
What are the Rabbis, the lawyers, the 
Scribes ? What are those synagogues, 
found in every town and frequented on 
every Sabbath, not for sacrifice and other 
ceremonial acts of worship, but for reading 
the law, religious discourse, and prayer? 
What high ruling body is this, called the 
Sanhedrim, a name having no Hebrew 
derivation, while the body is presided over 
by the high-priest? What is meant by 
the traditions of the elders? Whence 
came this wide-spread and firm belief in a 
resurrection of the dead, as to which the 
Old Testament gives but a few dim intima- 
tions ? Such are some of the questions 
that must sorely perplex the reader we 
have imagined. ,, 

Let us glance at the political, literary, 
and religious history of this period. 

I. THE POLITICAL INLOOK 

is complex, (i) Eastern oppression comes 
first to view. The grasping hand of Baby- 



128 The Liter-Biblical Period. 

Ion had closed around Jerusalem, and then 
relaxed. Not, however, before Jerusalem's 
spirit had been crushed, her home made 
desolate, her children dragged away in 
chains, and her prophets' voices stilled in 
death. 

Yea, not before her children had been 
taunted by heathen lips, and ordered to 
amuse heathen captors with the holy songs 
of Zion. " Sing us a song of Zion !" The 
very willows might well have wept while 
holding broken harps ; sad symbols ot 
broken hearts. Worse than all, Persia in- 
fused Persian thought into the strict, pure 
Hebrew teaching; and the sons and daugh- 
ters of Jerusalem returned at length to 
Zion, with their spirit tinged and tainted 
by their Babylonian sojourn. That taint 
they never did efface. Still, whatever of 
good they gleaned in their captivity exerted 
a proportionate influence at home. God 
was preparing Israel for Christian Tlwuglit. 
A modified Hebrew tongue was to act 
its part in that work of preparation. So 



The Inter-Biblical Period. 129 

Hebrew gave place to Aramaic, its Persian- 
ized offspring; the language of the people 
and, therefore, of Jesus, the " child of the 
people." 

Once more at home, they are doomed to 
feel the force of (2) Macedonian oppression. 
Alexander the Great, having triumphed in 
the farther East, coveted Jerusalem, and 
hied him thither. But it was left for his 
creature, Antiochus Epiphanes, to grind the 
Jewish head beneath the Grecian heel, and 
profane the holy temple. But mark: the 
language of the Greeks (more gracious 
than their spirit) offered to take up and ex- 
press, for the benefit of the world, religious 
thoughts for which the Aramaic was not 
fully competent. But was Israel idle ? Did 
the Jews themselves offer no resistance to 
their enemies ? They stood firmly ; fought 
nobly ; died grandly. 

(3) Maccabean resistance was so sublime 
that this period is freely termed the Mac- 
cabean Period. Not quite two centuries 
before Christ, Matthias, after pouring out 



ijo The Inter-Biblical Period. 

his life-energies, cast his mantle on his 
worthy son, Judas Maccabeus, the Charles 
Martel, the Hammerer, of that earlier cru- 
sade. He was the third son, but the prince- 
liest of them all. Piety and patriotism 
mingled equally in his heart, and flowed 
together in his very veins. Beth-Horon's 
battle-field and quiet Emmaus tossed the 
torch of victory to Capharsalama, which 
spread the flame; displaying the momen- 
tary glory of the great lost cause. Jon- 
athan, the wary Simon and Hyrcanus, 
continued the conflict; but Judea was un- 
fortunate, and the temple, though purified, 
was doomed. (4) Roman hands were to 
work the fell destruction. Invited to come 
as allies, they decided to stay as masters. 
They built the nest of the Herods and 
reared that viper brood. They gave a Pon- 
tius Pilate; they gave the shameful cross. 
They dismantled Jerusalem and dishonored 
the Holy Place. Their vandal hands swept 
away the temple and the people. But 
mark God's providence : these Romans, 



The Inter-Biblical Period, iji 

as world-conquerors, spread the language 
of the Greeks, and that language was the 
casket of our written Testament. The 
religious Hebrew Phoenix that arose from 
the ashes of destruction, Christian in its 
type, followed the Roman cohorts to prov- 
ince after province; and, returning, made 
its nest triumphantly in Rome. Thus 
was queenly Rome employed to spread 
Hebrew-Christian thought, expressed in 
Greek, throughout the world. 

2. THE LITERARY INLOOK. 

Romantic, Philosophic, Historic. (i) 
Romantic, (a) Esdras, Book I., is supposed 
to have been written in Greek by a wander- 
ing Jew, outside of Palestine, two centuries 
B.C. This book restates the progress of 
the movement to restore the Jews to 
Jerusalem, under Cyrus and Darius. It is 
distinguished by the quaint literary contest 
which decided who should lead in the 
great Return. Three debaters appear 



ij2 The Inter- Biblical Period. 

before the king with chosen topics. The 
first speaks on the power of wine, and 
delivers quite a temperance harangue. 
The second discusses the power of a king. 
The third takes up the power of woman, 
and astonishes the royal court by proving 
the power of woman superior to a king's. 
By a singular enlargement, the power of 
truth is presented by this same debater 
No. 3, and shown to be superior to the 
power of wine, king, and woman. As a 
reward of merit, the king crowns this 
third debater with the privilege of leading 
his people back to Zion. The hero was 
Zerubbabel. (b) Esdras, Book II., is 
conspicuous because containing New 
Testament phrases : " heavenly kingdom ; 
immortal clothing, garments ;" " Son of 
God;" " Christ." (c) Tobit may next be 
noticed. This book pictures Tobit as a 
blind father anxious about his son Tobias, 
who it seems craved death, because of 
matrimonial unhappiness. Tobias after- 
wards marries Sara, Raguel's daughter, 



The Inter-Biblical Period. ijj 

who had lost seven husbands through 
demon-influence, and contemplated suicide. 
Tobias marries her, and by using perfume 
and fish, he expels the demon power, and 
survives. The joy of Tobit brought back 
his sight. 

[We should no more think of placing 
such a fantastic book in the sacred Canon 
than we should think of uniting the fairy 
fancies of Hans Christian Andersen and 
the profound and passionate utterances of a 
Luther. Still, Tobit is admired as a Jewish 
novel.] 

(d) Judith, a tragedy, singularly fasci- 
nating. Dramatis Persona: King Nebu- 
chadnezzar's Captain-General Holofernes, 
Achior, Israel's peace-commissioner, Ju- 
dith, a beautiful Jewish widow. Judith 
possessed the patriotic heroism of Deborah 
and Esther. She was unlike Joan of Arc, 
yet equally loyal to her people. Holo- 
fernes, the susceptible Captain-General, was 
threatening the land. Achior sought to 
secure peace for his people, but failed 



134. The Inter-Biblical Period. 

utterly. Judith determined to try. Taking 
her maid with her, she suffers herself to 
be captured, and led before the mighty 
general. Holofernes instantly surrenders 
to her beauty, and displays uncommon 
leniency. Biding her time, she seizes the 
opportunity to decapitate the chieftain, 
spreading dismay throughout his camp, 
and firing the martial spirit of her Jewish 
countrymen. Having delivered her people, 
heroically, she returns toher home, and lives 
a courted widow, but the nation's bride. 

[One thinks of the analogous feature 
in Miss Miihlbach's romantic " Joseph and 
his Court."] 

We pass to the (2) Philosophic Writings : 
(a) The Wisdom of Solomon, so called, 
is a kind of later edition or imitation 
of Proverbs. It contains an interesting 
reference to the human origin of unright- 
eousness, — original sin. Chapter VII. gives 
"Twenty-one attributes of Wisdom." (p) 
The Wisdom of Jesus, Ecclesiasticus, con- 
tains crisp maxims, full of common sense, 



The Inter-Biblical Period. ij$ 

bearing on life and wisdom : truisms, many 
of them. The beauty of queenly wisdom 
is displayed, and a Soliloquy flows evenly 
in Chapter XXIV. Inspiring, possibly, but 
not " inspired. " 

(3) The Historic (a) Maccabees, Book I., 
is of greatest value. This is the book that 
describes so graphically the brilliant career 
of Judas, the Maccabee, or Hammerer, and 
pictures the changing fortunes of the 
Maccabean princes. To this one book an 
article might be devoted, exhibiting a 
frantic effort of a dying people to win their 
freedom or a glorious death, (b) Macca- 
bees, Book II., may not fairly be ranked 
with Book I., and yet the record of the 
pious family, whom scourge and whip 
could not force to violate the Jewish law in 
eating the flesh of swine, accords with the 
spirit of this heroic age. Furthermore, it 
is justly claimed that Josephus leaned 
heavily on these books, and is perfectly 
reliable only when copying, almost literally, 
their vigorous narratives. 



ij6 The Inter-Biblical Period. 

Inquiry into the status of these books 
raises the 

Questio7i of the Canon. 

The word " Canon" means " rule." Canon- 
ical books, therefore, are those which con- 
form to the ■* rule." The noun, we learn, 
was first used a.d. 380, but the thing im- 
plied, viz., the regularity and authority of 
the books, was a recognized fact long 
before. The persecution of Antiochus is 
thought to have raised the question among 
the Jews, " For what writings shall we 
contend, and, if need be, die?" (1) The 
national decision was the formal expression 
of the existing national estimate, favoring 
the books which we call Canonical to-day. 
(2) The Alexandrian or Egyptian estimate 
varies ; indicating a freer use of the Apocry- 
phal writings, without making them equal 
with the " Law, Prophets, and Sacred writ- 
ings." (3) Philo and Josephus may be simi- 
larly classed. (4) New Testament teachers 
(Christ and the Disciples) quote only from 



The Inter-Biblical Period. ijy 

the " Canonical" books ; and quote from 
every one of these " except Judges, Ecclesi- 
astes, Song of Solomon, Esther, Ezra, and 
Nehemiah. , ' (5) The Protestant world may- 
be said to follow substantially the New 
Testament example. 

We have thus reviewed hastily the polit- 
ical and literary features of the Inter-bibli- 
cal Period. 

Of special moment is 

3. THE RELIGIOUS INLOOK. 

The Mighty Conflicts 
between Jewish Monotheism and Gentile 
Polytheism. (1) Persian influence was 
great. It affected the language and thought 
of the people ; and very naturally their 
religious life showed evidence of foreign en- 
graftings. Of this we have already spoken. 
So also of (2) Greek conquest and culture, 
and (3) Roman aggression, destruction, and 
dissemination. This trinity of culture, Per- 
sian, Greek, and Roman, threatened the 
1 2* 



ij8 The Inter-Biblical Period. 

overthrow of the simple culture of the 
Hebrews. What were the 

Potential Helps 

in waging this mighty conflict? (i) The 
loyal masses. The half-religious, half-patri- 
otic passion of the people seemed literally 
inextinguishable. (2) The Pharisees, or 
Separatists, made themselves felt. As the 
grand champions of immortality and Mes- 
sianic truth, the beginning of their history 
should not be buried in their hypocritical 
after-history. Fair fountains may become 
impure. (3) The Essenes, ascetics of the 
deserts, contributed to the national feeling 
and strength. (4) The Rabbis of whatever 
sect, whether Pharisees, believing in im- 
mortality, or Sadducees, denying that doc- 
trine, exerted almost unbounded influence. 
Of one it was claimed that he understood 
the language of birds and trees. Of an- 
other it was said that his piercing eye 
could bring down birds in their lofty flight. 
Exaggerations ? Yes, but they show the 



The Inter-Biblical Period. ijp 

extent of rabbinical influence. (5) The San- 
hedrim, or Session (patterned after Moses's 
seventy elders), itself a child of the Mac- 
cabean Revival, helped to bind the people 
by judicial influence. (6) Political Hie- 
rarchs of Jewish choice were so powerful 
that their conquerors sometimes deposed 
the national High-Priest; for example, An- 
nas, and appointed a minion of their own, 
Caiaphas. This explains why our Lord 
was taken before the two. Annas, though 
deposed, retained great influence over the 
Jews ; the other possessed authority from 
Rome. (7) Synagogues were extraordi- 
narily powerful in developing the religious 
and national feeling of the people. 

Scattered over the country, they served 
as primary temple-schools. The Quahal, 
of the prophetic day, was the model of 
Ezra's great congregation ; and from this 
tree of Ezra's planting grew the scions 
which were destined to be engrafted as 
synagogues, in Galilee as well as in Judea. 
In Asia Minor also; for Paul's voice was 



ij.o The Inter-Biblical Period. 

heard by crowds who thronged the syna- 
gogue at Iconium. 

Above all other helps stood God. He 
was the supreme stay of the people in this 
period. Jealous of his truth, jealous of 
his people, he interposed until, by their 
own unrighteousness, they forfeited his 
protection and deliverance. Then it was 
that the necessity for the new kingdom 
of li: ::ade itself manifest. John the 

Baptist was the herald of this divine king- 
dom ; Christ was the Great Head. 

Such, in conclusion, were the genius and 
spirit of the day in which Christ appeared. 
We can almost see the Jewish lad retiring 
to some hill about Nazareth to commune 
with nature's God, with nature herself, and 
to study the law and the prophets; and 
influences born of the traditions of the 
people entered his great heart to be puri- 
fied in sacred fire. His supreme guiding 
light was his Father's glory ; his supreme 
motive was to do his Father's will; his 
supreme passion to conquer the world for 



The Inter-Biblical Period. 141 

that Father, and bring all the creatures of 
his kingdom into union and communion 
with God, its King. 

That is the Christ whom we cherish to- 
day. 



THE END. 



Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. 



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